Five Film Clips Of Cakewalk Dances From 1902, 1903, and The 1950s (with selected comments)

adamgswanson, Jan 29, 2011

Ragtime pianist, collector, and historian Johnny Maddox described this scene to me as one of the "most authentic cake walks I've ever seen." The clip is from the classic 1936 movie San Francisco, starring Clark Gable and Jeanette MacDonald. It features Abe Holzmann's hit "Smoky Mokes" and Kerry Mills's famous "At a Georgia Camp Meeting" as background music, which almost perfectly fit the period of the film, 1906. I let the scene continue until the music stops.

No copyright infringement intended.

Movie

San Francisco

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases ffive film clips of performances of the Cakewalk dance. 

Selected comments from the discussion thread for several of these videos are also included in this post. 

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are associated with these film clips and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of these film clips on YouTube.
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Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2020/09/information-about-cake-walk-with-1903.html for a 2020 pancocojams post entitled "Information About The Cake Walk (with a 1903 Library Of Congress film clip & a reprint from streetswing.com)".

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR FILM CLIP #1
1. ALI CAT, 2019
"Does anyone know the name of this movie?"

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Reply
2. Cynical and Realistic, 2020
"It's called San Francisco 1936"

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3. Nicole Arciola, 2020
"First song is Smoky Mokes, followed A Georgia Camp Meeting."

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 4. arturo lpc, 2020

"'At a Georgia Camp Meeting Cakewalk.' Cakewalk De Kerry Mills publicada por F.A. Mills en New York, New York en 1897."

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5. Jrexx28, 2020
"1936 portraying 1906 wow"

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SHOWCASE FILM CLIP #2: Le Cake-Walk au Nouveau Cirque - Louis Lumière (1902)

Theodor W. Vodou, Mar 23, 2012

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - Cake Walk 

JiveSwing.Com, Aug 29, 2012

This section, which is an extract from the Sprit Moves, features the Cake Walk, danced by Leon James, Al Minns, Pepsi Bethel et al. The Spirit Moves, by Mura Ziperovitch Dehn (1905-1985) is a 3 part documentary about African-American social jazz dancing at the Savoy Ballroom and can easily be purchased online.

Song: New Orleans Function (1983 Satchmo Version)

Artist: Louis Armstrong

Album: New Orleans Function

Song: When The Saints Go Marching In

Artist: Sidney Bechet

Song

New Orleans Function (1983 Satchmo Version)

Artist

Louis Armstrong

Album: New Orleans Function
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Here are three comments from this video's discussion thread:

1. Becky Bradway, 2013
"This has to be from the 1930's, maybe 1940's.  If one dancer is Pepsi Bethel, he was born in 1918.  I know the clip itself looks faded and old...but maybe it's done for effect?"

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Reply
2. tandmark, 2013
"Becky Bradway, The Spirit Moves was released in 1986, having been filmed over the course of 30 years, or so it's said. If I had to guess, I'd say this segment dates to the late '50s or possibly the very early '60s, as it clearly resembles the Charleston and other dance footage featuring Al Minns and Leon James that Mura Dehn filmed around that time."

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3. SeeSaw444, 2019
"The Cakewalk was created and perform by Black people in the late 19th century mostly after emancipation. Black folks were influenced by the white southern minuets (slow ballroom dance) that was common in the South. When you watch this Cakewalk dance you can see folks were poking fun by exaggerating steps and movement."

**** SHOWCASE VIDEO #4: Uncle Tom's Cabin - Group and Solo Cakewalk dance (1903)

Sonny Watson, Feb 23, 2012

1903 Uncle Tom's Cabin Group Cakewalk scene with some solo cakewalk dance as well.

from Streetswing.com excerpt: It originated in Florida by the African-American slaves who got the basic idea from the Seminole Indians (couples walking solemnly).The original idea of the Cakewalk was that of a couple promenading in a dignified manner, dressed in Sundays best, high stepping and kicking, mimicking whitey's high society. Some of the better plantation owners would bake a special cake called a hoecake wrapped in cabbage leaf on Sundays and invite the neighbors over and have a contest of the slaves, different prizes were given but originally it was a Hoecake for the males and molasses pulled candy for the ladies and whichever slave(s) won, would get the cake / Candy ... thus the term "That Takes The Cake!" (Plus others such as 'It's a Cakewalk' = very easy) and the name "Cakewalk" was now set. The dance grew in popularity even after the Civil War (1861-1865), but it would change and become more grand in style and clothing as time marched on.

...for more info on the Cakewalk and others see:

http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z...
-snip- Here are two comments from this YouTube video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only)

Butcherchop (Beto), 2014
"Cakewalk was a plantation dance the slaves created to mock the plantation owners and their guests. It eventually became a popular dance.

The style of piano play is called "Ragtime".

**** Kimberly Davis, 2015
"the cakewalk originated in the Antebellum period among slaves wishing to mock the high strutting ways of their masters. On Sundays, these slaves would dress up in their best clothes and do a high-kicking dance which attracted the attention of the master and his family, who never caught on that they were the brunt of this joke. The masters arranged for competitions among the slaves to see who could do the best strut. The winner was awarded a cake, and hence the cakewalk was born. After the war, many ex-slaves made their living as performers, and many of these performed the cakewalk and other plantation dances. The cakewalk ultimately became an international craze around the turn of the century. It also became popular at the University of Vermont (UVM) where white fraternity brothers in black-face would perform the cakewalk as part of a winter festival. And so the dance intended to alleviate black rage by mocking slave owners became a dance making fun of black people. The cakewalk festival was finally abandoned at UVM in the fall of 1969 under pressure from the NAACP. The fraternities which had been training dancers for the 1970 winter cakewalk competition, however, refused to give it up. Some of them organized a cakewalk demonstration on Redstone Campus one night. The demonstration came to an abrupt halt when African Americans bravely stood in the path of the dancers. The dance has since disappeared entirely from UVM. Long may it rest in peace."

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #5:The Cakewalk

 

Village Swing Dance, Nov. 23, 2015

From the documentary: THE SPIRIT MOVES 1950'S The Cakewalk was really the first African-American that became popular with white audiences back in the 19th century. The dancers are Al Minns, Esther Washington and Leon James.
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